The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro are
expected to introduce several important upgrades later this year including
major changes in the display department. Thanks to a report published by
Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) earlier today, we now know exactly what
Apple has planned.
The iPhone 12 Pro Max is going to feature
a massive 6.68-inch flexible OLED display supplied exclusively by Samsung
Display. That screen will support a 2778 x 1284p resolution, which translates
to the same pixel density as the iPhone 11 Pro Max – 458 pixels-per-inch. One
important difference when compared to the screen on the previous-gen model is
the presence of Y-OCTA technology, which allows touchscreen circuitry to be
directly patterned on the OLED panel without the need for a separate layer,
resulting in a thinner display and lower production costs.
As reported by Jon Prosser recently, the
new display will be marketed under the ‘Super Retina XDR’ branding and Apple
seems to be taking that name more seriously this year. The company is said to
be planning 10-bit color depth support, which means the iPhone will be able to
display over 1 billion colors.
That feature is something that has only
appeared on the OnePlus 8 Pro and Oppo Find X2 Pro so far this year, meaning
the iPhone 12 Pro Max will be one of the few smartphones on the market to
support it. DSCC also believes Apple will follow its own ‘XDR’ branding
guidelines more closely on its next smartphone by increasing the maximum
brightness level and peak brightness. Whether any other changes are planned
remains to be seen. The smaller iPhone 12 Pro should feature a 6.1-inch OLED
display supplied by Samsung. Support for 10-bit color depth and a higher
maximum brightness like the Pro Max model is currently expected, although there
will be some key differences.
It is not expected to have Y-OCTA
technology and will instead feature a separate layer for touch circuitry That
will be combined with a slightly different resolution of around 2532 x 1170p
that should maintain the 458ppi pixel density. Like the iPhone 12 Pro Max, the
iPhone 12 Pro is rumored to feature 120Hz support. DSCC warns that Apple has no
plans to adopt LTPO tech unlike the Galaxy Note 20+, though, meaning it could
be limited to non-native resolutions or risk being a big battery drain.
Replacing the iPhone 11 will be the iPhone
12 Max that reportedly features a 6.1-inch OLED display sourced from both BOE
and LG Display. The latter is going to handle the bulk of orders initially
before BOE starts to increase its share.
Like the iPhone 12 Pro, the iPhone 12 Max
looks set to feature an add-on touch circuitry layer rather than Y-OCTA tech.
The same 2532 x 1170p resolution and 458ppi pixel density are rumored too,
which is perhaps the most important change.
Although regular consumers don’t care, Apple has often been ridiculed
for the comically low 1792 x 828p resolution and 326ppi pixel density offered
on the iPhone 11 and iPhone XR. With the switch to OLED, however, that practice
seems to finally be ending.
To better differentiate the standard
iPhone 12 series from the Pro models, Apple is planning a series of downgrades.
More specifically, these displays won’t be granted access to the XDR branding
and, as such, won’t support 10-bit color depth or 120Hz ProMotion tech. The
smallest iPhone of the bunch looks set to feature a tiny 5.4-inch OLED display.
DSCC says it will be sourced from Samsung, but tipster Jon Prosser and
L0veToDream believe the supplier will actually be BOE.
Features should be borrowed from the
iPhone 12 Max and a 2340 x 1080p resolution with a 475ppi pixel density is
reportedly on the cards. However, Apple tends to offer the same pixel density
on all models, so a slightly lower resolution that enables 458ppi is to be
expected instead.
Display Supply Chain Consultants have
heard that panel production is delayed by around 6 weeks, meaning production
should start at the end of July rather than early-to-mid June. As a result,
DSCC is corroborating a launch delay from September to October.
